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Research & Policy
Furman Center Launches New York City Quarterly Housing Report
March 28, 2012: In an analysis of fourth quarter 2011 housing indicators, the Furman Center finds that home sales volume continued to decline citywide, with the number of transactions citywide down 15 percent from the previous quarter and 11 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010. Foreclosure starts were down in most of the city. Manhattan was the only borough where the number of foreclosure starts increased, although the number of foreclosure notices issued in Manhattan remained well below the numbers issued in any of the other boroughs. The Quarterly Housing Update is unique among New York City housing reports because it incorporates sales data, new construction indicators, and foreclosures. It also presents a repeat sales index for each borough to capture price appreciation while controlling for housing quality. View the press release.
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News & Events
Member of Furman Center’s Board of Advisors Named in Crain’s “40 Under Forty”
March 26, 2012: Melissa Pianko, Executive Vice President of Development at the Gotham Organization and a member of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy’s Board of Advisors has been named one of Crain’s New York Business’ 2012 “40 Under Forty.”
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Research & Policy
Furman Center Releases New Report on New York City’s Minimum Parking Requirements
March 21, 2012: A new analysis released by the Furman Center and its Institute for Affordable Housing Policy: Searching for the Right Spot: Minimum Parking Requirements and Housing Affordability in New York City, examines minimum residential parking requirements in communities throughout the city and explores the possible effects on housing affordability and on the city’s sustainability goals. The brief finds that the requirements may be causing developers to supply more off-street parking spaces than tenants and homebuyers demand, potentially driving up the cost of housing and promoting inefficient car ownership. View the press release here.
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News & Events
Ingrid Gould Ellen and Josiah Madar Participate in ANHD’s Annual Community Development Conference
March 15, 2012: Furman Center Co-Director Ingrid Gould Ellen participated in a panel: “The Next Steps to a Comprehensive Housing Strategy: Permanent Affordability and beyond” at this year’s ANHD Community Development Conference. Ingrid Ellen’s presentation focused on the needs and challenges for affordable housing in New York City, particularly the declines in the availability of rental units that are affordable for low-income households. See the presentation here. Also, Furman Center Research Fellow Josiah Madar moderated a panel at the ANHD conference: “Will the Single-family Housing Market Get Better or Worse in 2012?” This panel focused on how the New York market for single family housing is being impacted by various factors including a recovering economy, increasing REO inventory, a growing shadow inventory of foreclosed properties, and restrictive underwriting standards.
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News & Events
Furman Center and NYU’s Institute for Education and Policy Awarded MacArthur Housing Matters Grant
March 13, 2012: Researchers at the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy and NYU’s Institute for Education and Policy were awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation How Housing Matters research grant. The Furman Center will use the $202,000 grant award to investigate how housing matters for children by exploring whether housing vouchers enable recipients to move to neighborhoods with higher performing public schools, and whether they shape the educational performance of their children. The study will use data on 200 of the largest school districts across the country, including New York City, to compare the quality of schools in the zones in which housing voucher holders live to the quality of schools where other assisted households live, as well as zones where other poor households live. Learn more about the MacArthur grant and the Housing Matters initiative here.
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News & Events
John Infranca Presents on Transferable Development Rights at Conference
March 2-3, 2012: John Infranca presented “Development Rights Transfers in New York City: The Case of the Highline” at the Association for Law, Property and Society’s 3rd Annual Conference at Georgetown Law School in Washington D.C. The Furman Center research project analyzes development rights transfers throughout New York City and the presentation looked more closely at the dynamics of transfers in the West Chelsea Special District.
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News & Events
John Infranca Presents on Religious Land Use at Washington D.C. Conference
March 2-3, 2012: Furman Center Legal Fellow John Infranca presented his paper on religious land use at the Association for Law, Property and Society’s 3rd Annual Conference at Georgetown Law School in Washington D.C. His presentation proposed an alternative framework for interpreting the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which protects religious landowners from certain land use regulations that infringe on religious exercise. Infranca focuses on the institutional nature of most RLUIPA claimants and applies theories of institutional free exercise and hardship tests from other land use doctrines to the claims of religious institutions. Read the paper here.
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News & Events
Ingrid Gould Ellen Participates in Roundtable Discussion on Foreclosure
Feb. 29, 2012: Furman Center Faculty Co-Director Ingrid Gould Ellen participated in a roundtable discussion on the state of the foreclosure crisis in New York, hosted by the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law. The roundtable, which featured a discussion with Scott Wilson, Senior Advisor & Special Counsel to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, addressed recent foreclosure settlements in New York and how the legal system has both fulfilled and fallen short on its promises to offer assistance to homeowners and their communities. Access a video of the roundtable here.
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News & Events
Vicki Been Presents on Land Use Regulation at University of Florida Levin College of Law
Feb. 28, 2012: Director Vicki Been presented the Fifth Annual Wolf Family Lecture, “Who Controls Land Use Regulation: The Urban Growth Machine versus Homevoters,” at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, which examined the scope, motivations and outcomes of New York City rezonings in the past decade. In addition to factors, such as neighborhood character, demographics and existing building size and zoning regulations, the study finds that in accordance with the urban growth machine theory, growth will occur almost anywhere in New York City due to existing infrastructure and high market demand, while based on the homevoter theory, voting homeowners oppose upzonings that further develop areas that are attractive due to available amenities. A video of the lecture may be accessed here.
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News & Events
Max Weselcouch Participates in APA’s Mortgage and Credit Crisis Panel
Feb. 16, 2012: Furman Center Data Manager and Research Analyst Max Weselcouch took part in the New York Metro chapter of the American Planning Association’s panel, “2012: Revisiting the Growing Impact of the Mortgage and Credit Crisis on New York City.” Her presentation focused on the impact of foreclosures on New York City neighborhoods and research on loan modifications. You can see the presentation here.